Thread: My little hone

Picked this up today for $5.00.. Almost feels like the light side is smoother.. Been trying to lap both sides but been pretty tough going.. Any help would be appreciated.. Black side has a chip im trying to lap out, cream side pretty good except a tiny rough area.. thanks fellas..Scott I only have the Norton 4000/8000 cpmbo a Naniwa ss 12000 and a Pike barber hone.. Just starting to do my own razors from start to finish.. Question is? Is this small combo a Coticule? Both sides are smooth as glass.. Not sure how a Coti is used different to my synthetics? thanks, SMW

Looks like a Coti to me but im no pro. Also, they dont always glue a bbw to a cotie. Sometimes is just a dark stone not worth honing on. Hopefully someone with more experiance jumps in.

This is not a coticule/bbw natural. Belgian Blue slurry is almost purple-ish. The black is a (slate?) base for the coticule side. The black is not intended for honing purposes.

Thanks fella's.. Next question is.. Since i do not have a slurry stone for this (1.5×6) little guy can i use 400 grit sandpaper for slurry? thanks

Some will use a small fine diamond plate. They are about the size of a credit card. But im not too sure if that messes with the garnets? I think thats what is in a Coti. But i will step back and let someone who doesnt HATE Coties answer. Damn rock! They just piss me off.

With sandpaper i think id be worried about the abrasives coming off the paper. BTW, they do glue BBW to the back of Coticules. But mostly its a useless piece of slate. The ones cut from the mine with both layers cost more as there is not as much of it.

If I was you I'd try 10-15 strokes on the coticule with water or lather or oil after the 12k. If it improves the edge you have a finisher.
If not you can muck around with slurry. Maybe it's a bevel setter but avoid using any form of sandpaper. A slurry stone or diamond plate is the go.

Looks like a coticule. Could even be a good one. The back seems to be slate, so pay no attention to it at this moment.

I would dress the "yellow" side with abrasive powder (if it is not straight, I start with 80 grit since some are quite hard). Finish with 800-1200. I have some I only use like this as final finisher, always on running water.

If you like to try it with slurry, get a diamond plate, make sure it's worn-out first (using it on a novaculite worked best for me).

Sandpaper is a no go mostly due to the fact that even the very best do give some particles to the surface at some point.

Since you are new to all of these, try finding a friend with the proper stuff and test. Not worth buying yet since you don't know if you need them or not.

Looks like a coticule to me. You can pick up small creditcard sized diamond plates to flatten, chamfer the edges and raise slurry. They aren’t very expensive.

Hard to say whether the other side is schist or a BBW without a better and closer picture. There are natural BBW/coticule combinations and there are also combos in which a BBW has been glued to a coticule.

I use a Norton 4000/8000 and then follow with a coticule. If you do a progression on the coticule that ends with pure water (some say finish with light laps on a dry coticule), I think you may find that you get a comfortable edge. Cotis being natural stones vary a lot. Maybe you lucked out and got a nice finisher. You will have to play with it to learn what your stone can do.

I'm a fan of a regular ol' slurry stone to raise slurry,

although I rarely use mine with slurry anymore

Nice little coticule there, my bet would be an older mined coticule due to the discoloration on the sides and edges.

Older mined coticules were mostly attached to Belgian Blue rock; not necessarily hone worthy, as honing on Belgian Blue Whetstone is a relatively modern thing and they used to back up coticule with whatever Blue rock they had at hand.

But this looks quite dark for BBW, rather like slate, as mentioned; so I'm guessing this is a homemade solution.

What size is it, anyway? It seems very much to be around 30 X 100-120 mm, which was quite a standard size for small Thüringer hones, if I'm not mistaken.

Keep in mind, this is very much spitballing though, as it's hard to say anything other than 'Yes, the creamy side is most likely a coticule.'

Personally though, I would definitely test both sides, as you maybe (just maybe) have a homemade coticule-Thüringer combination. Which would be totally awesome. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

I would test it by going through your regular progression, then add one layer of electrical tape (to make sure the edge is all test hone) and do 30-50 light X-strokes on water only.